How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A closer look at how Pakatan fared in Sarawak

Just for coffee shop talk...

Looking at available figures sourced from Malaysiakini, the Sarawak state elections turned out results which show BN victory as disproportionate to the votes cast for them. The figures in brackets are number of seats if based on some form of Proportional Representation:


Overall view
Barisan 372,379 votes 55.36% 55 seats (39) unfair extra 16 seats;
Pakatan 277,329 votes 41.23% 15 seats (29) unfair 14 seats less;
Independents 20,064 votes 2.98% 1 seat (2)
Overall total 672,667 votes; 71 seats.

In order of votes cast:
1.PBB 192,785 votes 28.66% 35 seats (20) unfair extra 15 seats;
2.DAP 134,847 votes 20.05% 12 seats (14) unfair 2 seats less;
3.PKR 117,100 votes 17.41% 3 seats (12) unfair 9 seats less;
4.SUPP 111,781 votes 16.62% 6 seats (12) unfair 6 seats less;
5.PRS 35,120 votes 5.22% 8 seats (4)unfair extra 4 seats;
6.SPDP 32,693 votes 4.86% 6 seats (3)unfair extra 3 seats;
7.SNAP 15,663 votes 2.33% 0 seat (2) unfair 2 seats less;
8.PAS 9,719 votes 1.44% 0 seat (1) unfair 1 seat less;
9.PCM 2,895 0.43% 0 seat
Independents 20,064 votes 2.98% 1 seat (2) unfair 1 seat less;

Total 672,667 votes 95.14% 71 seats

From the above table, it is quite obvious, delineation of electoral boundaries was skewed in favour of PBB, PRS and SPDP while DAP and SUPP competed for Chinese-majority seats which have bigger number of voters. PKR's voters were stretched and spreaded thinly over 49 seats.

According to a Malaysia Chronicle report:

"71 seats were up for grabs on April 16. The polls ended with BN winning 55 seats and Pakatan 15. A total of 672,667 Sarawakians came out to vote last Saturday, with the election marred by the greatest electoral fraud ever seen so far.

Most of the seats won by the opposition, in particular the DAP, saw more than 15,000 voters in one constituency whereas the BN strongholds had significantly lesser voters. It is the latter group of small and fragmented seats that are infamously known as the Taib's 'fixed deposit' seats.

For example, the seat of Pending, won by DAP, saw 21,274 Sarawakians voting. On top of that, Bukit Assek had 18,504 voters, Kota Sentosa at 20,559, Pelangan with 20,336 and 18,440 voters at Batu Lintang, all of which are seats won by the opposition.

These are the startling contrasts to the Taib strongholds. Only 8 out of 55 seats won by BN had voters ranging from 10,000 to 13,000.

The others were at least 3 or 4 times smaller in size. Contested by PKR, the majority of these seats ranged from 5,000 to 7,000 voters. The small size of the electorates make it exceedingly easy for the incumbent, in this case the Taib camp, to manipulate, bribe or buy out the voters should they wish to do so.

DAP had been offered but chose not to contest these seats, leaving the burden of fielding a contestant with the PKR and PAS. But perhaps, after PKR's stellar performance, it might wish to change its mind. Already, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has called for a merger with SNAP in a bid to spread the party's footprint over Sarawak much in the same way it currently controls Penang."

Rest of the article:
And a couple of relevant comments therein:

Wednesday, 20 April 2011 04:44 posted by Drama Queen
This is a flawed analysis as PKR is not comparing apples with apples. PKR won 117,100 votes because it contested 49 seats. That is an average of 2,389 votes per seat contested. Whereas DAP had 134,847 votes obtained from 15 contested seats. That is an average of 8,990 votes per seat. So, DAP's support per seat is almost 4 times of PKR. If DAP had contested in 49 seats like PKR, it would most likely have obtained more than 200,000 votes. So, the analysis by PKR is flawed. After losing, they still refuse to acknowledge their weaknesses and continue to give excuses. PKR lost because of poor preparation, fighting over power and not paying enough attention to local issues. Plain and simple. If PKR continues to behave like it is currently behaving, going to Putrajaya will remain a dream.


Wednesday, 20 April 2011 03:42 posted by Not fair
The point why BN won is because most of the Melanau/Malay seats have less than 10K voters..chinese seats having more than 20K voters....they smart..making many seats for malay/melanau....28seats just for 27.5% Malay/amelanau voters...whereas Chinese with 31.5% voters only got 15 chinese seats. this is blatantly unfair...

Shouldn't Najib be worried over the reality of the so-called two-third majority victory despite unfair use of government machinery, institutions and money?
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